This show really doesn't have a lot of segments and it seems like they are mainly focused on the performances rather than interactions between the groups. I personally think that it is a bit of a shame because my favorite part of these shows are seeing contestants interact with each other. It seems like a lot them know each other and seeing these relationships on screen would be really fun.
So in preparation, they went to some sort of pool thing for an underwater photoshoot to represent "No Air". Not gonna lie, I was pretty confused as to the purpose. Like they were saying all this stuff like "We need to experience the pressure and hopelessness of having no air", but like what does this have to do with an underwater photoshoot. Like y'all are essentially going to a pool and taking pictures. But go off I guess? They were really serious about this and I was just confused. Like I saw that they used some of Juyeon's footage and maybe that was the purpose? I don't know, but I did like that their focus was to convey emotion through their performance. It is definitely one of main purposes of art and it's nice to see them focus artistry especially in an industry that really focuses on the marketing of music rather than the actual art. I could definitely see them practice this idea in their Meet and Greet performance, and I think they were able to achieve that.
For this performance, I can definitely see the attempt as well. I could see the expressiveness in their dancing and facial expressions, but the story and concept is where I have issues. They were saying that the storyline is supposed to be a tragic love story based on A Song of Ice and Fire. My issue with this is that
1. I guess Daenerys and Jon Snow were supposed to be a tragic love story, but the books have not gotten there yet if George R.R. Martin decides to go that route and the show portrayed it so shittily that it wasn't moving in any sort of way. Plus Deanerys is Jon Snow's aunt which is just all sorts of messy.
2. The main focus of A Song of Ice and Fire isn't even the love story. It's all about political maneuvers and power moves. I really just don't understand why they chose this story as their concept if they wanted to go with a tragic love story.
3. I don't understand the actual storyline of the performance. I'm assuming that the pov camera is supposed to make it so the watcher is the person that they love in this situation, but other than conveying sadness to the camera, I don't understand the tragedy. Like why can't they be together. I think it would be more effective (if they really wanted the Game of Thrones aesthetic) to have the members die off and instead of having the pov camera to have them react to the death of their members. You could still have them dance and stuff when they're dead through like jacket switches or something such as making them start off with like the white jackets and then make them switch jackets to like a tattered white jacket to show that they are a White Walker or something so that they are still recognized as dead but still stand out from the background dancers. It would show more of story and still convey that tragedy that they are aiming for.
I still think that it was a gorgeous performance. I loved Sunwoo hanging to escape from the wights, Juyeon's dance with the sheet, the impactful use of fire and the lack threreof, and the arrangement of the song. It is a very good performance, it just lacks that story component that they were aiming for.
I really don't know much about iKON, but I am lowkey living for Jinhwan. Homeboy is constantly like "I need to keep a straight face" and fails which is just so funny. And when they were thinking of who to call, he said straight up "My mom". What a legend. He seems so chic but he is actually pretty damn funny. It was also really cool to see them work with new concepts that they weren't really familiar with. I loved seeing them work the camera and creating a storyline. The camerawork is definitely very interesting and it is always really cool to see the creative process.
I definitely appreciated the more musical approach that they took for this round. I understood the story and I loved the little details such as the beginning with the girl disappearing to show that the relationship ended and the lighter "setting off" the fire. I also adore the arrangement of Love Scenario. It's absolutely brilliant and I lowkey like it better than the original. My only criticism would be the sudden change between the two songs. I wish there was more of a bridge story wise because it started with being okay with the break up like definitely more cheery and suddenly its killing them. I think something like showing the girl with another dude or something like that should have been implemented to trigger a more negative response towards this break up. Basically, I felt there was a just too sudden of a change. Additionally, I feel like that they kind of dropped the whole musical storyline with Killing Me with the dance break. They were definitely fun to watch but they did not add to the story and with the red, green, blue, club-esque lighting, it felt out of place. We just came from Donghyuk, from what I believe, commititng suicide by jumping off a building, to a sort of club like setting dance break, which felt really off putting. I'm not really sure how I would fix that part other than cutting it, which makes me feel conflicted because it definitely was important to show their dancing skills.
Honestly, I did enjoy the performance and I thought that they did a really good job. Maybe because I didn't really expect a lot from them, but they keep on impressing me and I really like it. I loved that they tried something new by giving a more musical approach, because I do think it was a really good crack at it.
Can I just say that Eunkwang having a pillow of his face in his living room is kind of iconic. That being said, I really love having BTOB having this show. They definitely bring amore fun and laid back vibe to the show that it kind of really needs. iKON really does a good job at this with their preparation segment. Additionally, as they talked about this episode, they really have a lot to offer with such a large selection of songs in their repertoire that range from ballads to fun bops. They just have such a different style compared to the younger groups, and the same can be said for iKON. Like BTOB is known for their ballads and iKON is known for their rapping and hiphop vibes. Having these groups with such a different aesthetics, I believe, is really important because then you can see a broader spectrum of what kpop can be. When BTOB was discussing the type of song they should use, since they really did experiment a lot and have such a wide variety of songs, I definitely agree with their decision of a rearranged ballad. A more fun party song, like Beep Beep, would have been really difficult to create a stage that would show off their talents and a conceptual song, like Thriller, would have been difficult to reinvent. I will say that I was insanely stressed watching them prepare by seeing how much they are relying on Minhyuk. If I have learned anything from this show, it is that this man can do anything. Like he's singing and rapping and dancing. If I was in his position I would be insanely overwhelmed but homeboy is killing it.
I love this performance. It definitely stands out from all of the other performances with the traditional Korean aesthetic. I also think that this song really fits the aesthetic, especially with the arrangement that they created. It really gives OST vibes. Their vocals are, as always, unbelievable. Changsub's voice really shined in this one. Like it was absolutely stunning. One thing I did notice though was that Peniel doesn't sing in these. Or if he does, they don't show it. I don't know why they don't have him singing because he can sing and having his voice in the harmonies could really add a lot especially with only 4 members. On a different note, I don't believe that there was a storyline and that they were just giving off vibes. If there was supposed to be a story, I definitely did not get it. I really liked Minhyuk sword dancing section, because not only did it show yet another thing that this man is good at, it was also a dance break that really fit the aesthetic that they were going for.
I think it was very endearing to see them shit their pants over choosing the order of performances for this round. I especially found it hilarious at the end of the episode when Bangchan was asked if he would like the advantage of choosing the order again and you could tell from the pause and face that his answer was "Fuck no. That was too stressful." I definitely found the meeting for choosing the songs to perform fascinating. While the other teams seemed to have full control over the choosing their songs (I say seem because I don't know what happens behind the scenes and for we all know it could be decided by some sort of creative team), it seems like the JYP company is very involved. It's great that they have all these people backing them up, but it just seemed kind of odd for this lady to be like the company wants you guys to do a mix of God's Menu and Hellavator. I definitely am very thankful that Stray Kids were able to voice their opinions and go with the creative direction that they wanted to take with mixing God's Menu and Side Effects because I always the believe that the artists should get the final say. It was also really cool to see Chan mixing the mash up together and seeing them practice acting and receive advice from 2pm's Wooyoung. (Completely unrelated to anything happening in the show, but I just want to say that I am loving seeing so much of Felix's freckles.)
This performance was phenomenal. I love the concept of them trying to exorcise evil ghosts and then getting possessed. The stage did such a great job portraying this story and they included so many visual spectacles. I loved the puppetry visualization. It adds to the creepy possessed vibes because let's be real who the hell isn't kind of creeped out by puppets and the whole idea of possessing something and being a puppeteer kind of work hand in hand. I definitely loved the puppetry box part as well as the upside down part because holy shit did that require a lot of core strength from that background dancer. The part that stood out to me the most though was by far the huge sheet. That was an amazing spectacle and the background dancers did a phenomenal. My major complaint is the use of God's Menu. I do not think that it should have been used. The song is so linked to cooking that it using it in this concept just doesn't make sense. I can't suggest another song that they can replace it with because I don't their tracks that well, but I'm sure there's something that fits. Another thing I want to point out is that a lot of the spectacle and what I found really cool was what the background dancers were doing. Like I think they deserve massive amounts of respect and applause because holy shit were they like the MVPs. That being said, I do think that Stray Kids themselves did do a really good job as well. They are really great performers and it was an amazing performance.
I am loving these dudes using the phone banners, Seong Hwa showing support for BTOB and Woo Young rooting for Stray Kids's Changbin. It definitely creates a really great atmosphere by adding a bit of fun to the show and showing support for others which is just so nice. I loved seeing their creative process. I genuinely think Hong Joong must be some sort of genius because he was really inspired by basically around them and was able to use that as well as suggestions from his producer friend, EDEN, and the other members for the performance. I loved the idea of mixing Wonderland with a classical piece, and the idea of a pirate concept. I was also really stressed watching these guys prepare because we saw that they are promoting a new song at the same time as filming Kingdom. That is absolutely insane and I have no clue how they are able to do it.
I am completely blown away by this performance. I think all of the creative decisions made were absolutely perfect. Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 From the New World mixed seamlessly with Wonderland. The addition of this song also adds a very theatrical feeling to the arrangement. The song also completely fits the pirate concept with the sort of militaristic chanting and Dvorak's symphony brings that feeling of something important and majestic in a sort of sense. I also love the costumes and the props. The Kraken tentacle was insane and I wonder how they animated it because it was pretty fucking cool. I only have 2 very minor criticisms. The whole time traveler was not necessary. It literally was just a dude in a fedora and trench coat in the beginning for some reason, like we could just do the same shot without him and it would have the same effect. My other criticism are the bone breaking dancers. I understand the concept, however it does not include the ATEEZ themselves doing anything of interest and the lighting and costuming just don't fit in with the rest of the aesthetic. I would be more cool with it if a member actually did something (I know a member was in the shot but he didn't really do anything) and they weren't wearing those ugly neon colors and it was more like a skeleton outfit or something. Other than that, I loved the performance.
This is probably the group that I was most curious of what their creative process is because I really believe that they come up with some pretty insane ideas. Sadly, not much was shown, since the main focus of their behind the scenes segment is just how busy these guys are with all of their individual schedules. I never really realized all of the different things they did individually. For example, I didn't know that Inseong was doing a musical, but that is really cool. They also focused a lot on Jaeyoon struggling over jumping after previously getting injured from it. I think we can all relate to this experience and it was really regretful that during the actual performance, he landed wrong and looked like he got injured, so I really hope that he is ok.
I remember when watching this performance on YouTube, it was my favorite one for this round. I found the concept to be very unique, loved the costumes that they had for it, and found the prop use and artistry amazing. I definitely still think all of that. I love concept of jealousy, especially in regards to the show. It's vague as fuck but I'm sold because I love me some social commentary. I love that the beginning references the magic mirror stuff from Snow White where the Evil Queen tries to kill Snow White over jealousy because that's just a spot on representation of what they're concept is. I am also obsessed with the constant use of mirrors. I think that they are great representation of jealousy of appearance. I just love this performance. The dancing and the acting was so on point. All of the groups were talking improving their artistry and these guys are just masters. Like every single member really pulls their own weight. I was going to point specific members, but upon rewatching this for the billionth time, every single member did phenomenal. My favorite parts though include Zuho dying and Chani's dance solo. The only reason I could think of them any sort of deduction of score is that I don't believe that they sing live. Sometimes their lipsyncing is off, they're not moving their mouths enough for me to believe that they are singing certain things, and the sound quality is just too stable and like one volume for me to believe that they are singing live. Amazing performance though. I am entranced every time I watch it.
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Basically, my major issues with these performances is that they keep on saying that they are going to do a certain story or concept and then they don't stick with it. Come on guys. Honestly, these are really just nitpicks because all of the performances are stellar. I would still say my favorite is SF9's because they stuck with the theme and it is just absolutely stunning to watch. Second place for me would be ATEEZ. I loved the ideas that they were going with and the execution was top notch. The actual results were:
1. ATEEZ
2. Stray Kids
3. The Boyz
4. BTOB
5. iKON
6. SF9
I'm a little sad that SF9 got last. What makes me really sad about that is that they didn't get a single vote from another group for the self evaluation part, which really just sucks. I would hate to be in that position and could definitely understand how they felt in the interviews. If it's any consolation, they are first for me. The results aside, I find the show itself a bit too serious. I really just want to see the contestants interact more. Like we were able to see SF9's Chani and iKON's Chanwoo interact in their segments and we saw a little bit of ATEEZ's Woo Young and Stray Kids's Changbin interact and support each other but I just want more. Don't get me wrong Produce 101 was horrible in terms of villainizing people (I'm looking at poor Haknyeon), barely giving contestants screentime, scamming people, and cheating people out of opportunities that they worked hard for and deserve, but they are insanely good at showing friendships form between contestants and creating storylines based on that. I still remember the friendship between Lee Woojin and Kang Daniel, Yoo Seonho and Hwang Minhyun, Son Dong Pyo and Han Seung Woo, and Keum Dong Hyun and Hwang Yun Seong. This might be a controversial opinion but I love the segments such as sports day or random challenges and stuff of the contestants messing around more than the actual performance. Essentially, I want more contestant interactions or them just messing around and I am really excited for the sports segement. So... Um... Yeah...
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